iRunStories / Season 1, Episode 12
Final Boarding
DAY ONE - HOUR SIX Sophie Chen had missed her connection. Not through any fault of her own—Flight 1847 from JFK had arrived twenty minutes late, and by the time she'd sprinted through LaGuardia's maze of terminals, her connection to Chicago had already pushed back from the gate. "Next available flight is tomorrow morning at 6 AM," the rebooking agent said, tapping at his keyboard without looking up. "I can put you on standby for the 10 PM, but it's oversold." "Tomorrow MORNING? I have a meeting at 8 AM. I need to—" "I can put you on standby," the agent repeated, and something in his tone suggested the conversation was over. Sophie took the standby slip and joined the herd of other stranded travelers crowding Terminal B. The 10 PM flight came and went without calling her name. By midnight, the terminal was nearly empty, but Sophie had found a spot near Gate 27 with a working outlet and decent WiFi. She'd nap here, catch the 6 AM, and make her meeting with only mild exhaustion to show for it. She fell asleep watching departure boards flip through destinations she'd never visit: Reykjavik, Singapore, Buenos Aires. She dreamed of flying. DAY ONE - HOUR FOURTEEN She woke to her phone alarm at 4:30 AM. The terminal was wrong. It...